Exploration ships deploy underwater equipment to investigate underwater objects. For example, FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating a scan sonar transducer (or tow fish) 110A being pulled by a tow boat 101, according to conventional technology. The sonar transducer 110A uses long-range technology such as echo location to identify objects of interest. A weighted tow line 199A keeps the sonar transducer 110A submerged for echo location operation which can be surfaced by movement of the tow boat 101. A negative buoyancy of the sonar transducer 110A also contributes to submersion.
Once an object 102 of interest is identified for investigation, the sonar transducer 110A is hauled back to the tow boat 101, disconnected form the tow line 199B, and replaced with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) 110B, as shown in FIG. 1B. The tow line 199B is typically switched out to allow neutral buoyancy for navigation, as well because the data line for the ROV 110B is different from the data line of the sonar transducer 110A, and focus is on data transfer rather than weighting the sonar transducer 110A. The object 102 is shown as an object of interest in low quality sonar images 130A in a display device but the sonar transducer 110A is not equipped with auto-pilot and imaging devices necessary to investigate the object 102. On the other hand, the ROV 110B can display high quality images 130B, but is not adapted for travel at higher speeds and does not have long range recognition capabilities.
Problematically, the conventional transition process can take an hour or so, and once investigation is complete, the reverse deployment is necessary to continue sonar exploration. A dynamic object, such as a body that is not tied into the terrain, may be relocated by water currents by the time the ROV 110B is deployed to the coordinates. This can lead to hesitation for deployment and less thorough investigations. Moreover, the multiple devices are stored and maintained on limited real estate of the tow boat 101. Furthermore, the negative buoyancy of the sonar transducer 110A is mutually exclusive to the neutral buoyance of the ROV 110B.
Therefore, what is needed is a robust new device, such as a flying underwater imager with multi-mode operation for locating and approaching underwater objects for imaging.